Foldable wing tip mechanisms are known for decades and allow to reduce the necessary storage volume for military aircraft operated on aircraft carriers. The application for commercial aircraft was developed in the 1990s, but has never been used in service.
In this technical field it is known to integrate a hinge into a wing to allow folding a wing tip or wing end from an operating position into an upright position. Such a hinge may substantially be aligned parallel to the direction of flight, i.e. parallel to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. It is further known to provide a hinge axis perpendicular to the wing surface, i.e. in a substantially vertical direction, to allow the rotation of the wing tip in a backward direction. This allows to store a wing tip substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the aircraft. Furthermore, it is known to combine both to be able to achieve a vertical orientation of the wing tip chord in a final storage position, in which the wing tip extends substantially parallel to the fuselage, while the chord of the wing tip is substantially vertically arranged.
WO 2011144298 A1 shows a wing with a retractable wing end piece, wherein a mechanical lever system is used for executing a pivoting motion of a wing end piece comprising both a rotational component and a translational component. The lever kinematics comprises two lever arrangements, for which respective two hinged devices are provided.